Cross-over day! *rubs hands in glee* Finally I can reck this awesome story.

Title: Questionable truth by Tarlan Fandom: MICHAEL BIEHN CHARACTERS - Sheriff Brent Marken from the movie Cherry Falls Pairing: Brent Marken from Cherry Falls/Martin Fitzgerald from the TV show 'Without a trace' Length: novella long Author on LJ:tarlanxAuthor's website:Phoenix Michael Biehn archive, and the rest of her websites can be found through this one

Why this must be read:Well... actually... only if you like marvellous long stories with a real plot to them *g* Because that's what this is. And the length is part of its appeal, because it means that the writer takes her time to slowly unravel what's going on. What can I say? I was blown away by this story the first time I read it because of how rich it is, how well-defined all the characters are and how everything that was hinted at in Cherry Falls comes together here and gives us a new spin on the story. There are great plot twists troughout, giving us new information we hadn't expected.

And through it all it's also the story of two men finding each other as they slowly come to terms with their homosexuality and the fact they have fallen in love.

I can only say, treat yourself and take a nice evening off to delve into hours of reading enjoyment.

This was the story that got me into Mag7 fiction. Belladonna is a great author who brings both fandoms together through an undercover assignment of Martin's. We get the family aspect of both the Mag 7 and the WaT teams, as well as some humor, angst, a suprise cameo from another fandom, and a twist at the end.

Buck snickered and Ezra and Danny looked at him. “What’s so funny?”

“I get a kick outta the way Malone says ‘Martin’. You can hear the New York accent, plain as day,” he shrugged.

Ezra shook his head, “Simple things for simple minds.”

“Bite me, Ez,” Buck replied succinctly.

“How do you guys ever get any work done?” Danny asked, honestly curious.

“Hey, we’re not that bad,” Buck protested. Ezra rolled his eyes at the patent untruth in that statement.

With an eyebrow raised, Chris challenged, “Oh yeah? What about filling up my office with blown up condoms?” Danny snickered as Vin giggled. “Or how about the time you and J.D. tied all of the beer cans from my trash to the back of my pickup? Or the time Ezra hired the stripper to come into the office for my birthday, the same day that the Judge showed up?”

Why this Must be read: This author knows Tony, knows Martin. Putting them together is enough but the author gives us more. There is nothing wrong with a nice hot dose of porn which we get in this story, but then it goes beyond that. Tony and Martin become more to each other and we, the readers, get to go on that journey. Also, have you seen these men?

A few men had given him signals, but none of them had done much for him. Older guys, for the most part, power players, sharks; Tony was hungry, but not that hungry, and he wanted some meat with some muscle to it.

Then a man walked in the door.

Not as tall as Tony, but damned cute, with a way of holding himself that said he’d break anybody who dared to call him cute into many very small bloody pieces. Built solid, wide shoulders, narrow hips, strong face, bright blue eyes that oddly reminded him of Ducky, only the twinkle in these was muted. Sadder than they should be. Tony kept looking out the corner of his eye as the guy saw him in turn, and headed directly across the floor to stand next to him at the bar.

All Tony’s nerves started to sing at once, and they were singing a mating song. He wanted this guy.

Title: Here Come the FBIsPairing: Sara Sidle/Samantha Spade, implied Nick/Greg, and maybe even Danny/Martin.Author on LJ:stareyednightAuthor Website: Fic journal would be stareyed_fics.Why this must be read:

Okay, I'm not usually a fan of femmeslash, but this one's not bad, and maybe it's just 'cause of the pairing. Both are [usually] hard workers who never get play [*cough* sorry Jack and Gris] and are [entirely too] dedicated to their worklives, also obsessing over people they can't have, and just ignore the Martin situation for the moment. That's probably one of the main reasons I think these two would be perfect for each other, other than the fact that both girls' initials are S.S. Ironic, right? Sure.

Anyways, the story. The author makes the [almost] established relationship [can you call it that?] perfect in that almost-one-night-stand way, but made it into a wanted-more-than-this one. I think in the end they both got it, even though they live on opposite sides of the country. Danny's in the story, too, so that's a plus, and also because he and Sam I can imagine having such a nice, friendly friendship. They can trust each other. There's also implied Nick/Greg, which is awesome, and then, to me atleast, a bit of implied Danny/Martin [hoorah] but it's only like a sentence long. You should just read it.

Title: Wrong Place, Wrong TimeFandom: The Magnificent SevenPairing: not reallyAuthor On LJ: Not that I know of.Author Website: Don't know of one.Why this must be read:

Well, it's ATF AU again which is always a blast but it's slightly diabolical too. A few years after M7 went off the air, Eric Close (who played Vin on M7) landed a role in a Jerry Bruckheimer pilot for a series called "Without A Trace". The character, Martin Fitzgerald, is as far from Vin as one can get and still have the same face. Straightlaced, born into an affluent and influential family and as buttoned down and clean cut as one can get the key to the fun is, of course, he still has the same face. And when one considers the contrasts between Vin and Martin then thinks of the M7 ATF AU which puts Vin in a Federal job...

The crossover potential is too damn good to pass up. Mady uses this to her advantage in the story when Vin Tanner goes missing.

Twice.

This one is a good case story, a good mix of the two shoes, and the wink wink nudge nudge of the resemblance is played up for all it's worth. It's an absolute treat to read.

Title: Go ProLift by StarEyedNightPairing: Sara/SamanthaAuthor on LJ:stareyednightAuthor Website: Okay, so she doesn't have one. But you can find her Sam/Sara fic here.Why this must be read:

Okay, I've already recced one of StarEyedNight's fics, I know. But crossover day sort of snuck up on me, and anyway this is a great crossover. The pairing makes perfect sense, the universes blend together beautifully, and it's femmeslash. There's just not enough good femmeslash out there.

This fic features Sara in New York, down on men and Grissom in particular, and a very flirtatious Sam who's in pretty much the same situation. Their stories parallel one another so much that it's hard not to put them together in your mind, and this fic demonstrates exactly why they work so well. They have fun together, and that's something both women are sorely lacking in their lives.

This is the first in StarEyedNight's Sam/Sara universe, which so far consists of three fics, all of which you can find in her LJ memories.

Fandom: WITHOUT A TRACEPairing: Danny/MartinAuthor on LJ:carleton97Author website:Entertain MeWhy this fic must be read:

The thing I like best about this fic is that it takes into consideration all the little canonical soap operatic tidbits the show's been tossing at us in season two, dealing with them neatly and succinctly to make the slash believable within canon. And it really is, because, as I've been saying all month, Danny and Martin have a ridiculous amount of chemistry.

There's a little throw-away moment in "Revelations" in which Danny teases Martin with a little off-hand joke about bondage, and carleton97 runs with it and builds a PWP, yes, but one about trust and partnership and just exactly what Danny and Martin mean to each other.

Trust is a very important part of their ability to work together, and Danny breaches that trust in season one. They didn't deal with it on a very satisfactory level in canon, and this fic sort of fills in the gaps, if you will, showing why exactly Danny and Martin are back on a more or less even keel again in season two. The sex is hot and there's bondage, if that's your thing, but in the end it's about how far Danny's willing to go to prove that he trusts Martin. The story leaves you with the sense that they still have a long way to go toward repairing their working relationship, but by the end they've already said a lot without saying a word.

Fandom: WITHOUT A TRACEPairing: Sam/JackAuthor on LJ:eolivetAuthor website: None that I know of, but you can find most of her fic at grissomandsara.comWhy this must be read:

Jack and Sam's affair is canon, but it was never really dealt with onscreen. We get little hints and then finally at the end of season one a confirmation that they're more to each other than colleagues, but there's no resolution and no hint of how it began. So it's natural that fandom would pick up on that hole and fill in the blanks, as it were. Much of the time this seems to be done from Samantha's point of view, but this fic is Jack looking back at the origins of their relationship.

It's about responsibility and the rush of first attraction, about making excuses to do what feels good instead of what your head tells you is right. I've never been a big fan of Sam/Jack simply because I feel like his marriage has gotten short shrift both in canon and fandom, but this is Jack making mistakes but ultimately taking responsibility for them.

Fandom: WITHOUT A TRACEPairing: Danny/MartinAuthor on LJ:nekosmuseAuthor's website:nekosmuse.comWhy this must be read:

I've heard that people sometimes accuse the Danny/Martin subsidiary of Without a Trace fandom of being all about porn. It's true that there are a lot of R and NC17 stories focusing on the pairing, and it's also true that there are a lot of PWPs. But we all know that it's entirely possible for a story to have very hot sex without that being the main focus, and "Reverence" is one of those.

If you asked Neko she would probably try to tell you that this fic is just a long PWP. There was an actual plot at one time, but she killed as much of it as possible and 'focused on the sex' (I'm paraphrasing, but I'm pretty sure that's what she said as she was writing it). So the case-centric plot might be merely a backdrop to Danny and Martin's sexual adventures, but she never managed to kill the relationship-building they do in this fic.

It's an established relationship piece, but it reads like a first-time story because we watch as Danny and Martin make the journey from 'just sex' to 'what are we doing' to not quite saying 'I love you', and it's told so well that the journey itself becomes the focus of the story. There's definitely lots and lots of really hot sex -- it's practically impossible to write a Danny/Martin fic without hot sex, considering how much chemistry they have whenever they're onscreen together -- but in the end they also respect and care about each other, and that really shows through in this piece.

Also, it's really hot. And there's blasphemy, which is one of my favorite kinks.

Azar enjoys playing around with the name parallels on certain shows, and this fic is no exception. Considering the striking parallels in character names between these two fandoms, this kind of crossover could get confusing. This fic doesn't fall into that trap, though, and Danny and Daniel's connection is explained in a really plausible way. Granted, I have no knowledge of Daniel's background, but I find it very believable that they could have grown up in foster care together.

Danny/Sam fic is a very rare breed in Without a Trace fandom, most likely because canonically speaking, Sam already has her hands full with Martin and Jack. I find Danny/Sam pretty hard to buy, personally, but this is more wishful thinking on Danny's part, and it works really well within show canon. It's a quiet fic about two friends catching up after a long time apart, and the commonalities in their lives that keep them from telling each other too much, but help them understand why they both have to keep secrets.

I realize I've already recced tahlia's gen Sam fic (although it doesn't seem to have made it into Memories), but I can't let the month go by without pointing you toward her Sam/Martin fic. Admittedly, I am not a Sam/Martin fan. I have a lot of trouble seeing them ever working, but their 'flirtation', as it were, is canon, and therefore has to be dealt with in a lot of fic involving other pairings, both canonical and not.

This fic takes a look at the 'date' Sam and Martin went on post-"The Bus", and shows us all the reasons why Sam and Martin really couldn't work. The timing, the complications with Jack, their personality differences...the list goes on. So I suppose this is more of an anti-Sam/Martin rec, but it's a realistic, in-character look at both of them, and it's a really well-written fic. tahlia's got an excellent handle on Sam, and I think she does her more justice than any other writer I've read to date.

Fandom: WITHOUT A TRACEPairing: Danny/MartinAuthor on LJ:alethialiaAuthor Website: She doesn't have one, but you can find her fics in her LJ memoriesWhy this must be read:

If you ask anybody in WAT fandom which is the best episode for Danny/Martin subtext, invariably "Silent Partner" is the first episode mentioned. It's an early episode, when Danny and Martin were still sort of antagonistic, so they're still getting a feel for each other and that lends itself to a lot of interpretation.

"Liaising" is a missing scene for "Silent Partner", and while Alethia claims that it's just smut with no redeeming value, it's actually a really nice look at the way Danny and Martin danced around each other at the beginning of the series. Danny teases and Martin bristles, but in the end they're just incredibly hot together.

There are probably other missing scene fics for "Silent Partner", but this is the one you should read.

Fandom: WITHOUT A TRACEPairing: Sam/Jack mention onlyAuthor on LJ:dressageridertbAuthor Website: I haven't been able to find one that worksWhy this must be read:

This is another almost-gen rec, but there are mentions of Sam/Jack. The season one episode "In Extremis" was emotionally charged for a lot of reasons, and this is, in my opinion, the best treatment of the aftermath in fandom. The episode focused quite a bit on Martin, but Jack's guilt over the outcome of the case was very understated and Devanie does a good job with carrying out what he might have been feeling. She touches on a throw-away scene between Sam and Jack as well, which the writers never did so it's nice to see it reconciled via fic.

I like this Sam/Jack dynamic, and I am not a big Sam/Jack fan, so that's saying quite a bit.

The nice thing about small fandoms is that often one doesn't really have to worry much about BNFs and fandom politics. WAT is a nice little fandom in that there's a good amount of fic of all varieties, but there aren't a lot of egos to be stroked. I can't point to any one writer and say 'this is the name everyone associates with this pairing', which is kind of refreshing in a way. Having said that, this particular series is one that probably everyone in the WAT slash community has read. It's one of the first Danny/Martin fics that came out of the fandom, and on a personal note, it was my introduction into the fandom.

I have some problems with the later parts, but I won't spoil you by telling you what those problems are. Still, problems aside, it's an interesting look at the genesis and culmination of Danny and Martin's relationship, and it was written in the early part of season one, when the subtext was still shiny and new and canon hadn't choked the life out of Danny and Martin's potential yet. That's not to say they don't still have potential, you just have to work harder for it now. Back in the beginning the writers just sort of handed it to us on a silver platter, and this series really reflects that.

It looks like a long series, but each part is actually quite short. It's a nice, angst-free bit of weekend reading. Perpetual Motion wrote the Just series, then Julian filled in the gaps with the Keeping trilogy.

Hi, I'm Caroline and I'll be reccing this month's featured small fandom, Without a Trace. I'm a slasher almost exclusively, but I'll do my best to bring you a balance of recs in the fandom.

Everybody in the Danny/Martin camp writes a 'Danny likes to push Martin's buttons' fic. Everybody. (I am no exception to this rule.) It's almost a rite of passage for new Danny/Martin writers, and the interest in these fics comes in with how each writer chooses to handle Danny's motivation and Martin's reaction to it. This is one of those fics, and I chose it because I like the flow of the prose and the way Elina puts you in the moment and makes you feel the addiction taking hold of Danny. Her Martin isn't just a slightly bewildered victim of Danny's charm, and that makes it even hotter.

This Danny starts the game, but very soon he finds that he's really just along for the ride. It's hot without being explicit, and a great example of Danny and Martin's natural chemistry just the way it appears onscreen.

Okay, I feel kind of dorky for reccing myself. Actually I feel like a giant attention whore. But there's not much in the way of CSI crossovers out there, and the few that I've read I wouldn't rec. Okay, there's one I'd rec if it weren't a WIP, but alas.

I wanted to offer *something* for Crossover Day, though, and since I happened to have this crossover just lying around I figured why not. I'm even more ashamed of myself for doing this because this is really more of a Without a Trace fic than a CSI fic. But it has Nick/Greg, and there's definitely not enough of them in the world. So yes, I am reccing myself like a big dork. But I'm hoping the smut will distract you from that fact.